


Flash Reborn Revised

by canthelpmyselves



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Fix-It of Sorts, Hand wavy science, Iris West Is Selfish, M/M, Rescue Leonard Snart, Time Travel, secret friendships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 16:49:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16685410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canthelpmyselves/pseuds/canthelpmyselves
Summary: They had been waiting for this a very long time. They suffered for decades, willingly, to save the world. Flashpoint. Dominators. The Oculus. Fixed points they had to protect and experience so they could finally be free. Now they were going to get back what was taken from them.





	Flash Reborn Revised

**Author's Note:**

> I'm usually a ColdFlash or FlashWave writer, but this story was too much fun to explore. Once again, I'm not very nice to Iris and I make no apologies for it, but for those who have occasionally complained that I don't warn them of that, here it is. Iris is portrayed as the selfish brat she is. You've been warned.

Harrison Wells is not a man given to emotional outbursts. Unless it was anger. Anger is something he was perfectly comfortable expressing. What he felt right now was as far from anger as he had ever experienced. 

Barry Allen, someone he had grown to admire, respect, even care for, was a shadow of his former self. 

No. He was a caricature of himself.

No. Harry’s not sure how to classify what he is confronted with, but he knows that this Barry is no longer just a haunted, damaged, but still resilient and breathtakingly pure young man. 

This Barry is broken.

And it’s breaking Harry’s heart.

* * *

The symbols are meaningless to them but a compulsion to Barry, who cannot stop drawing them on every available surface. If he cannot find a marker, pencil, crayon or eyeliner (that Ramon claims is not his) then he will chew at his fingers until he can draw them in blood. Everyone has taken to carrying washable markers with them. 

The muttering seem random and nonsensical to them, but Barry will sometimes smile like he thinks he’s just successfully explained color to a blind man. In those few, brief seconds, Harry’s heart will skip a beat and his stomach will tighten. He does his best to ignore those sensations. They’re nothing new. They had been quite common occurrences in the last few weeks of his previous stay on this Earth.

He focused his attention on the symbols. They mean something. They tell a story. It’s just not a story Harry can read. At least, not in it’s entirety. There are two symbols that almost makes sense in his head. Always side-by-side. Always separated from the rest of the scribbles. It’s taken two whole days since Ramon called him back to this Earth to even notice the discrepancy. While the squares, swirling lines and various circles all hold a certain crude hieroglyph-esque look, these two symbols are intricate, delicate. A small six-point fractal beside what looks like a small crescent inside a jagged teardrop. He has watched Barry draw for hours, and while the young man often speeds through the long, random series, he will always pause and concentrate hard on making those two symbols absolutely perfect.

Everyone has some theory on what they mean. Iris thinks it’s a marker, a starting point for Barry to start the symbols over again. Ramon believes it’s a clue as to what language Barry is stuck repeating, some sort of linguistic call sign. Joe’s fiance thinks it a clue for a book or scientific paper. Caitlin thinks it might be a type of Wernicke's Aphasia, where Barry mistakes the meaning of symbols. He may think he is writing or drawing one thing, but replacing it with something else entirely.

It isn’t until the third day, when Joe grumbles that it’s probably just Barry’s way of telling them he’s cold or thirsty that it clicks in Harry’s head. Suddenly he knows exactly what those two symbols mean and he knows he’s in for a battle if he tries to convince the others. So, Harry does what he thinks is best. He doesn’t tell anyone his theory. He just slips into the almost-forgotten time vault, powers up Gideon and asks her to make a call.

* * *

Once again the team is arguing. Harry ignores them the best he can as he carefully washes a plexiglass wall so Barry can continue his writing. Ramon and Caitlin are not happy with Iris (nor is he, but for more reasons than this). Iris and Joe want to try shocking Barry. She apparently read somewhere about electrical stimulation being used on stroke victims (quack medicine if ever he heard it) and helping them recover memories. Ramon and Caitlin are refusing to even consider the idea, thankfully. Cecile and Wally are trying to play mediators, but failing miserably. As for Barry, he has been glued to Harry’s side since the first loud word was spoken. 

“I’m his fiance!” Iris yelled, throwing her arm out toward Barry. “I think I know what Barry would want!”

“You mean like you thought we shouldn’t have searched for him in the first place?” Ramon sneered.

And see, that was the crux of his own anger at the young woman. When Harry heard how she tried to shut down the search for Barry, he had been livid. Furious. How dare she leave him in that prison! After everything Barry had suffered, sacrificed and given this city, given her, she had turned her back on him. If he had his way…

No. There was no good that could come from that train of thought. He reminded himself that he had no say in these people’s lives. They had asked him for help and he would give it, not for them, but for Barry. For the young man who risked everything to help him save his daughter. Who forgave him for his betrayal without demanding retribution. Who had welcomed him, over and over, to his world and made room for him in his life, despite the resemblance he bore to the man who killed his mother.

Harry was drawn from his thoughts as heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor, growing louder with each step. Alarmed, Ramon jumped behind a computer to check the security cameras and Joe pulled his gun, aiming for the doorway. Harry dropped the cloth he had been using, tensing only slightly as Barry reached over and wrapped his fingers around Harry’s wrist, pressing his marker into Harry’s palm.

“What the hell?!” Joe growled as three people stepped into view.

Before anyone else could speak or react, Barry sped away across the room and launched himself at the man in the middle. 

Caitlin, Iris and Joe gasped and Ramon gave a sort of strangled whine as Mick Rory wrapped an arm around Barry’s waist and held him tight. Sara Lance laughed lightly and Ray Palmer smiled widely, giving the team a wave. 

“The stars are melting, pelting, welting,” Barry said with a huge grin as he laid his head on the pyromaniac’s chest happily.

Lance’s laugh and Palmer’s smile faded as they turned to look at Barry with confusion.

Mick sighed softly and pressed a brief kiss to Barry’s head. “Missed you, Red,” he said gently. “Been waiting and dreading. Sorry ya had to go through this shit.”

“What the hell are you talking about,” Joe demanded, gun aimed at Mick. “Do you have something to do with this?”

Mick ignored him as his eyes fixed on the string of symbols near Harry’s shoulder. “Damn, kid. Ya really think that’ll work?”

Barry pulled away and took Mick’s hand, tugging him over to stand beside Harry. He uncapped a new marker and began writing again, almost speeding through the symbols. “This house is bitchin’,” he said cheerfully. “Twitchin’, lynchin’, pinchin’.”

“Wait!” Ramon gasped loudly. “You can read this stuff?!”

Mick snorted and reached out a hand to Harry. “Thanks for the call. Been waiting over a year for this.”

Harry nodded and pointed to the snowflake and the flame. “It took me a few days to figure out the meaning of those,” he admitted.

Mick nodded and reached out to ruffle Barry’s hair. “Knew he’d find a way to leave a clue.”

“Excuse me!” Iris shouted, stomping closer. 

Barry quickly scooted in between Mick and Harry, his eyes still on the wall, but his shoulders tense.

“What the hell is going on here?” she demanded.

Mick sighed and turned around, one hand going to the small of Barry’s back where his thumb rubbed soothing circles. “I’ve been waiting for this to happen. Waitin’ for Red to come back and tell me how to make things right.”

“Make what right?” Joe growled.

“We’re bringing back Leonard Snart,” Harry guessed. It was the only thing that made sense. Shock shown clearly on the faces of everyone but Mick and Barry.

Mick nodded. “I knew, back when I was Chronos, that he was going to sacrifice himself for the Legends. Didn’t know how or when, cause that was kept from me, but I knew it was inevitable. Just like I knew that when the time was right, Red here would willingly enter the speed force and spend a hundred years trapped inside.”

“A hundred...” Ramon quickly shook his head. “Barry’s only been gone six months!”

Mick shook his head. “Time moves different there. Kid’s been living in that hellhole for at least a hundred years.”

“Mr. Rory, are you saying you can read these symbols?” Caitlin asked warily, trying to get the conversation back on track.

“Course I can,” he said calmly. “Rogue code.”

“Rogue code?” Ramon repeated, his expression one of disbelief.

The pyro nodded. “What, ya think Snart wrote out plans so anyone could read them? Bastard was as paranoid as a hen in a fox’s den. Only four people in the world can read this. Snart, me, Lisa and Red.”

“Wait! Snart taught Barry how to read the secret language he created to keep his plans secret? That makes no sense!” Joe objected. “They were enemies!”

Mick turned toward the pexiglass wall. “Nah. Snart loved a good battle. Got the blood pumpin’. But at the end of the day, Red here has been our friend for decades.”

“Um, you might want to explain that a bit more,” Palmer suggested, looking confused.

Mick wrapped an arm around Barry’s shoulders, took the marker from his hand and walked them both over to the medical bed. He sat down and pulled Barry down beside him, guiding the speedster to lay down, his head in Mick’s lap. The group watched with astonishment as Mick managed something none of them had been able to do. He got Barry to slow down and relax.

“First met him when he visited Snart in juvie. We were in the infirmary, waiting on the staff doc to patch us up when he came ghosting through a wall. Scared the hell outta me, but Snart fucking lit up like it was Christmas. They told me the wildest story, which I never woulda believed if I hadn’t seen him walk through two foot thick stone and concrete. 

Story was, Red was a time traveler who had first approached Len when he was nine. Lewis was about to take him on his first heist and Red showed up, gave Snart some advice and left. Turned out the advice kept them from getting caught by guards with itchy trigger fingers. Showed up again a year later and helped him avoid the massive beating and several stitches he woulda gotten when Lewis lost heavy at a poker table. Thanks to Red, Snart knew to get his dad drunk beforehand so he’d miss the game. Another year, a different route home after a heist to avoid an accident.”

“Why didn’t he stop Leonard from going to juvie?” Cisco asked.

“Because some things were meant to happen,” Sara answered, her expression understanding and compassionate. “A fixed point in time.”

Mick nodded. “Couldn’t prevent everything. Some things needed to happen. If Len never went to juvie, we would never meet. If he never got beat, he’d never take Lisa and run away, determined to make a name for himself. If he never became a thief, he’d never be recruited to be a Legend. Course, Red offered him that. Offered it to me, too. He’d protect us, help us avoid all the things that made us who we are now. Both of us turned him down.”

“Why?” asked Caitlin, looking at him with pity.

“Cause who we are ain’t so bad,” Mick said firmly. “And what we are meant to do would never get done.”

“And what is it you think you’re so important for?” Iris sneered.

Sara sent her a glare. “Oh, how about saving the world, several times?” she asked coldly. 

Harry stepped forward, placing himself by Barry’s knees. He almost jumped when Barry sleepily reached out to take his hand, but managed to stay still. “Can you tell us what this says?” he asked, more interested in healing Barry than listening to the others argue anymore.

Mick studied it carefully for a long moment. “It’s a set of instructions,” he answered. “It tells us how to open a stable portal into the time stream so we can pull Snart out.”

“Why didn’t you tell us this was possible?” Ray asked, pouting slightly at being left out of something so monumental.

“Cause I didn’t know exactly what was gonna happen. Never have. Only knew that one day Snart would die, Red would disappear and when he came back, he’d know how to get Snart back,” Mick answered. “It all had to happen, the right way, for it to be possible to get Snart back. His sacrifice, Reverse Flash, the Dominators, the Singularity, even Flashpoint. Everything had to happen to make sure the world kept on spinning and that time got fixed. Snart isn’t floating around in time. He ain’t waiting on an Uber, Haircut. He’s part of the time stream. Red, Snart and me, we always knew we’d suffer. But we did it anyway. Cause that was the only way to truly free the timeline.”

Barry yawned and sat up. He gave Harry a soft smile before turning to Mick. “Can you hear the ringing?”

Mick stood and helped Barry to his feet. “Okay, Red. Let’s fix this.”

* * *

If he hadn’t watched it with his own eyes, Harry would never have believed it was possible. 

First, Mick began reading the symbols. Each one was a full sentence all on it’s own. The entire time he was dictating to Palmer, Barry sat on one of the rolling chairs, humming softly to himself. For the first time since his return, he wasn’t frantically scribbling on every available surface. It didn’t take long before Harry noticed that Barry stayed within five feet of him. If he moved across the speed lab, so did Barry. Even when Iris tried to take him to eat, he stayed wherever Harry was.

Once Mick had translated, Harry helped Palmer and Ramon begin gathering the equipment they needed. On the surface, none of it made sense. A molecular imager. Four of the modified ballistic shields. A spare core from the original Coldgun. Three conduits like Ramon used in his inter-dimensional extrapolator, but modified to remove the safety buffers. A few other pieces of tech that Barry had somehow managed to gather or built then hide around the labs, like a shorted out tachyon device and an old cb radio. Once they had everything in place, Barry moved to stand right beside Harry, twitching and shifting from one foot to the other. 

Joe, who up until now had been quietly fuming in the background, stepped around Harry to glare at Mick. “I want answers! You say you’ve known Barry for years, but you had no idea who he was when you challenged him in the street!”

“Course we didn’t,” Mick said. “The guy we knew was a time traveler, but never said nothin’ ‘bout being a speedster. He was always wearing a black leather jacket, jeans and a red shirt, but no Flash suit. Didn’t come out to us until after the street fight. Who do you think got us out of the transport? Lisa was in Opal City at the time. When Snart got icy about it, Red explained he had to make sure we didn’t hold back out of friendship.”

“What I want to know is why on Earth Barry thinks it’s a good idea to bring back Leonard Snart!” Iris snapped.

“Snart! I’m supposed to be here to rescue you,” Barry mumbled. “You’re a criminal Snart, but you live by a code. I hate to break it to you, but that? That right there is called honor.”

Mick smiled at Barry fondly. “Red’s always had more faith in us than we had in ourselves.”

Barry turned to face Harry and gave him a soft smile. “I told you, we’re a team. Now you’re part of it,” he said softly before placing a hand on Harry’s cheek and leaning in to kiss him briefly.

Harry felt his cheeks flame and he knew his expression was one of shock. The loud gasps from Iris, Joe and Cisco told him they were just as stunned as he was. Before anyone could ask anything or make any objections, Barry took off. 

Harry knew his mouth was hanging open, but he couldn’t help it. He had watched Barry in action many times. He had watched Barry, Wally and Jesse train. He had never seen Barry move like this. Within just a couple of seconds Barry was practically invisible. All anyone could see was a continuous loop of lightning. The air crackled loud enough to hurt their ears. Caitlin and Cisco’s hair actually rose up, full of static electricity. Harry’s skin tingled. 

The shields were set up in a square with a six foot space in the center where the cobbled-together device they had built stood. Palmer gasped as a golden light began to form above the device. It pulsed weakly at first, but steadily grew stronger. When it reached approximately three foot in diameter there was a loud whooshing sound and Barry speed right into it. 

The resulting explosion set everyone flying.

Harry groaned weakly as he pushed himself up onto his elbows. He felt around blindly for a moment before someone pushed a pair of glasses into his hand. He slipped them on and gave Sara a nod of thanks. The shields were still standing where they had been placed, but now a nine foot by three foot, bright blue portal was standing in the center. 

“Whoa,” Palmer said breathlessly, eyes wide with awe. 

Harry slowly stood, barely noticing that everyone else was getting to their feet, as well. An intense heat poured from the portal, causing sweat to break out on his face. The air still hummed with electricity. Several seconds passed before a shadow formed in the middle of the portal. It grew slowly until Harry began to recognize the shape of two men, arms linked between them. Just as the heat and humming began to grow painful there was a gust of wind and Barry and Snart stepped out of the portal. Barry quickly kicked one of the shields away and the portal snapped closed.

Mick rushed forward just as Snart’s legs buckled. He caught him and eased him to the floor. Barry sped across the room, then returned with a lab coat to cover the thief’s nakedness. 

“M-M-Mick...” Snart mumbled.

“I got ya,” Mick said gently. “You’re back, boss. Red got ya out and you’re back.”

Barry sat down beside Snart and smiled widely. “The stars are dreaming. Beaming. Teaming.”

Cisco gasped, expression worried. “He’s still speaking crazy.”

Mick snorted. “He’s sayin’ that Snart’s okay.”

“It sounds like gibberish,” Sara pointed out.

Mick didn’t have time to answer before Snart shivered, looked around and then threw himself at Mick, clinging desperately at the pyro’s neck. Mick chuckled and held his partner to him with one arm while the other tucked the coat around him better. Barry crawled over and pressed a quick kiss to Snart’s temple before standing back up and walking over to Harry. Iris made a grab for his arm but Barry evaded her.

Harry swallowed nervously as Barry slowly (oh-so-slowly for a speedster) slid his arms around Harry’s waist and laid his head on his shoulder. “Tired, Harry. Carry. Marry.”

Ramon gave a strained giggle and came over to them. “Come on, Barry. Let’s get you to a bed, okay?”

Barry clung tighter to Harry and whimpered. Unsure of what to do, Harry hesitantly wrapped an arm around Barry’s waist and cleared his throat. “Um, maybe you should get some sleep.”

Mick clumsily got to his feet, letting Snart lean heavily on him. “Come on, brainiac,” he grumbled to Harry. “We’ll put ‘em to bed together. They’ll sleep better with company.”

“Excuse me, but Barry is my fiance!” Iris shrieked. 

Mick rolled his eyes before looking at Barry. “Told ya it wasn’t smart, Red, but no, ya just had to fixate on that damn paper.”

Barry lifted his head from Harry’s shoulder and gave Mick a pout. “Fixed time. Rhyme. Lime.” Snart reached out a hand and made a grab for Barry’s arm but missed. Barry released Harry and quickly took hold of Snart’s hand and smiled softly. “Peachy?”

Snart, looking a bit less dazed, gave a tired smile. “Peachy.”

“Where can I put them?” Mick asked Harry.

“There’s a couple of sleeping quarters nearby. Nothing fancy, just a few cots,” Cisco volunteered.

“Lead the way,” Snart mumbled. Cisco headed toward the exit with Mick supporting Len and Barry following behind like a docile lamb. As soon as they were out of sight Iris spun to glare at Harry.

“What the hell?!” she snapped.

Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Miss West, I do not have an explanation. Until today I can count on one hand the number of times I have touched Barry Allen and those were all in conjunction with drawing blood or speed from him.”

“He kissed you!” she hissed. “My fiance kissed you! He’s been clinging to you all week!”

“And I have not encouraged him in any way,” Harry snapped back at her. 

“Well you haven’t exactly discouraged him, either!”

He was tired. He was angry. He was worried about Barry. He had no more patience for Iris West’s tantrums. “You abandoned him!” he shouted back at her. 

From the corner of his eye he could see Wally, Jesse and Caitlin tense up worriedly. Joe looked furious. Cecile looked like she wanted to leave as quickly as possible. Harry was past caring. “You wanted to leave him in that prison! And once he was rescued, all any of us have heard is how hard this is on you! You’ve complained when he doesn’t respond to you. You got angry when he shied away from you. You wanted to fucking _electrocute him_! Then when he does respond to someone, you pout because it was someone he’s apparently known for decades, people he’s protected and trusted most of their lives! So, forgive me, Miss West,” he growled fiercely, “if I chose to let Barry kiss me when it’s obviously what he wants!”

“You want him!” she gasped. “Oh my god! You want him for yourself!”

Harry squared his shoulders and looked down his nose at her. “I’ve loved Barry Allen almost as long as I’ve known him,” he admitted. “And you can damn well believe that if there’s even the slightest chance that he wants to be with me, I’ll fucking take it!”

Harry spun away and left the speed lab quickly, heart thudding hard in his chest. Shit! Had he really just laid himself open like that? What the hell was he thinking?!

“Um, awkward,” Cisco mumbled when Harry almost bumped into him turning a corner.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the engineer. “You have something to add?” he growled.

Cisco stared at Harry for a couple of seconds before slowly nodding. “Actually, yeah, I do. I know you don’t think much of me, and frankly, for a long time I thought just as little of you. But then I got past the face and name. I figured out you’re not Thawne and Thawne was never you. After that, I came to respect you, Harry. You and I don’t always get along. We’re too alike to mesh well. But I won’t lie and say you’re not a good man. 

From the beginning Barry has been the one to give you a chance. The first one to trust you. The first one to accept you. I used to think it was just him being naive or that he was determined to exorcise Thawne’s memory. When you left? Barry got low. Not as low as when his dad died, you know, but low. Like he’d lost an opportunity. That’s why he moved forward with Iris. He loves her, don’t get me wrong, but I think he loves her more because he thought he should than because he actually does. 

That newspaper from the future fucked with him. Still does. He worried about the headline saying he’s going to disappear. He worried over the by-line that said Iris West-Allen. Maybe in the original timeline he would have been happy with Iris. Maybe they would have had the perfect marriage he always imagined. But that was before Thawne. Before Flashpoint.” Cisco paused and took a deep breath. “Before you.”

Harry gaped at Cisco in disbelief. It took a couple of seconds to pull his thoughts together. “You almost sound as if you’re encouraging me to pursue Barry.”

Cisco grinned his most cheerful grin, amusement lighting up his eyes. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t want my two best bros happy?” Cisco reached out and placed a hand on Harry’s upper arm. “Barry isn’t in some sort of mental breakdown. He may be having a hard time getting the right words out, but I think it’s pretty clear he knows what and who he wants. He hasn’t left your side since you returned. Go on,” he said, nodding down the hallway. “He’s waiting for you.”

Harry hesitated a moment before relaxing and giving Cisco a quick nod. He stepped around him and continued down the hallway until he reached the sleeping quarters. Snart and Rory were squeezed into one of the cots, the pyro’s arms wrapped securely around his partner. Both men looked over and gave him steely looks. He nodded, letting them know he understood the silent warning. 

He turned to the other cot where Barry was sitting cross-legged, hugging a pillow to his chest. He walked over, watching as the speedster’s face began to light up. He took a seat beside Barry and turned to speak to him but was stopped by the faint brush of soft lips over his own. Barry pulled away and unfolded his legs, stretching out on the cot. He shoved the pillow behind his head and gave Harry’s hand a gentle tug. Harry huffed, more amused than annoyed and laid down, aligning his body with Barry’s.

“The stars are quiet now,” Barry whispered.

Harry pressed a light kiss to his temple. “Sleep, Barry,” he ordered. 

“Okay, Harry.”


End file.
